When Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum dropped her 6-year-old daughter off at school one fall morning in Georgia, she never imagined it would be the last time she’d see her child for more than a month.
“There was no warning,” Dr. Odum says. “No call. No court order. My daughter was just gone.”
According to details first shared by advocacy group One Mom’s Battle, Dr. Odum wasn’t accused of abuse or neglect. There was no hearing, no ruling that she was unfit. Yet, after a custody recommendation by a court-appointed guardian ad litem (GAL), someone with alleged ties to the opposing legal team, Dr. Odum found herself cut off from her daughter without explanation. Since that day, she’s seen her child only four times, all under strict supervision.
Dr. Odum’s story may sound extreme, but she’s far from alone.
All across the country, protective moms are raising red flags about what they say is a pattern in civil family courts: fit, loving mothers suddenly losing custody or being placed on supervised visitation simply for reporting abuse or trying to shield their children from harm.
“We’re not trying to break the rules,” Dr. Odum says. “We just want to protect our kids. And instead, the courts are treating us like criminals.”
In Arizona, a 16-year-old named Atalya testified at a recent legislative hearing that family court ignored her pleas for help and forced her to live with the father she says abused her. Another mother, Tia, said she was court-ordered to send her children to a man who was later criminally charged with child sexual abuse. For reporting it, she was placed on supervised visitation — even when her child became suicidal.
“These moms are showing unbelievable strength,” says Danielle Pollack, Policy Director of the National Safe Parents Organization. “They’re up against a broken system, but they keep showing up, to court, to lawmakers, to each other.”
Dr. Odum is now leading a support circle for other mothers in Georgia. They meet in her optometry clinic after hours, sharing advice, tears, and hope.
“We’re not giving up,” she says. “We love our kids too much.”
For now, she waits. She files motions. She shows up to every supervised visit with a smile, even when her heart is breaking. “My daughter deserves to know her mother never stopped fighting for her,” she says.
And like so many mothers across the country, she’s doing just that.
